I am in court a lot, and I have seen many cases on ID Theft & Fraud. This is an ever growing crime, and many governments, particularly the US is taking a strong stance, and issuing severe penalties for these crimes. One case stuck, and I thought I would bring this to everyones attention in the hopes of making you aware of the devastation this could cause you, or someone you know. ID theft is a very hard thing to recover from, and some cases take years to resolve.

People that put their REAL First & Last names as their User ID, and/or sign their post in the same manner, are at high risk for having their ID stolen, and/or sold throughout the world. You may think it's no big deal, but it snowballs from small pieces of a puzzle to getting a big picture about YOU. From posting real names these hackers/thieves obtain e-mails addresses, questionnaires/surveys & subscriptions, and this is just the short list. The more you give personal information about you, the easier you make it for them. Also if you belong to a particular site, and pay by credit card, and you are asked if you want to save your information for future use..... DON'T!! Especially Credit Card Info. Shopping sites are the number 1 place hackers go.

This is fact not fiction. One such case was a mother of two whom used forums and chat-rooms extensively using her real full name. She lost about $500,000 in cash, and property. The perpetrators (3 of them) were apprehended and sentenced to 7-10 years, fined $500,000 in restitution, and an additional $250,000 to the Victims Relief Fund. This woman was very lucky, as many of these thieves don't get caught, and if they do, the money is already gone. These guys were not so smart. Almost all the money, and property were still in their possession, and seized.

Use your common sense, and protect your ID at all cost!! I hope this was informative, and scared the hell out of you, because it was written for that very effect.

Thanks for the views guys & gals. Hopefully this will help some of you.